BROWNHILL LOOKS AHEAD TO UPCOMING RUN

Midfielder keen to get going again as the Premier League resumes

Josh Brownhill has spoken of the challenges of competing in the top division but believes that the Clarets have what it takes to pick up important points.

“The Premier League just keeps getting better and better each year. There’s never an easy time to be in the Premier League and when you feel like it might be, the players that the top teams bring in, the money that gets spent from the lower teams. You look at the profile of players now.

“You go back in and think oh we might be alright, and you look at the teams that we’ve played. We’ve had a really tough start, the athleticism, the way people run, the distance people cover, it’s just getting crazy. I think the first thing now is if you can’t run then you won’t be able to handle the Premier League.”

Burnley’s return to the top-flight has seen opposition including Manchester City, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea within their opening eight league fixtures.

“We’ve had a really tough start to the season, we’ve played probably the top eight, a lot of them. We’ve played Nottingham Forest and Luton where we put on good performances, could have got more at Forest. We beat Luton, it was a high-pressure game for us.

“For the new players, who haven’t been in the Premier League and have been in the Championship and used to winning the majority of games. It’s sort of keeping their heads together because after every defeat they’re so down. When you get a point in this division, or wins, they are absolutely massive. It’s not easy to come by.

“If you go back to our first games last season in the Championship, we were nowhere near the standard as we were probably after Christmas or towards Christmas. It took us awhile to get used to the way we play. We had a few bad results, we got beat by Sheffield United away, a few draws, last minute goals and performances – they were ok but not to the standard that they were after that.”

Whilst the fixture list has been tough, the midfielder is confident the squad can tackle the upcoming run of games, beginning this weekend away to Brentford.

“We know it’s going to take a while again, obviously in the Premier League you haven’t got as much time but I’ve seen enough in training, in games especially there’s been times where we’ve been really, really good but ultimately it’s getting points on the board and the next run of games are really important for us.”